Content surfing, preview and selection by sequentially connecting tiled content channels

ABSTRACT

A multi-window user interface (UI) is presented in various configurations and operational uses to leverage the relatively large display canvas afforded by large screen display devices such as 4K or 8K displays. Along with the various “Multiview” aspects, content delivery techniques, content selection techniques, and level of service techniques also are presented.

FIELD

The application relates generally to multiview presentations on highdefinition (HD)/ultra high definition (UHD) video displays.

BACKGROUND

HD and UHD displays such as 4K and 8K displays (and higher resolutionsenvisioned) offer large display “real estate” of remarkable resolution.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, a device includes at least one computer memory that is nota transitory signal and that in turn includes instructions executable byat least one processor to present on a display a user interface (UI)comprising plural tiles each being associated with a respective content.The instructions are executable for, responsive to a screen focus on afirst tile of the UI, playing video in the first tile and presentingonly still images in tiles of the UI other than the first tile.

In examples, the instructions may be executable to scroll tiles on andoff the display in a carousel format responsive to a user-input scrollcommand. If desired, second tiles in the UI can represent respective TVchannels, and third tiles in the UI can represent one or more of:software applications, web pages, graphical data feeds. A tile canbecome in focus by virtue of the user-input scroll command rotating thecarousel until the first tile is in a central portion of a tiled view ofthe UI.

In some embodiments, the may UI include two horizontally-arrangedcarousels of tiles. A first carousel can have tiles representingunderlying assets from local or cloud-based storage, and a secondcarousel can have tiles representing underlying TV channels. The firstcarousel can be rotated independently of the second carousel.

In example implementations, the UI may include a video carousel of tileseach representing a respective video. The tiles of the video carouselcan be stacked vertically, with a top tile being completely shown andtiles underlying the top tile shown only at edges of the tilesunderlying the top tile. The top tile is in focus.

In another aspect, a method for establishing a carousel of tiles for auser interface (UI) presentable on a display includes resenting a columnof tiles on the display. The method also includes resenting anassignment list next to the tiles, and receiving user associationsignals associating a tile with a content source type in the list tothereby associate the tile with a carousel of tiles associated with thecontent source type.

In another aspect, an apparatus includes a display, a processor, and acomputer memory with instructions executable by the processor to presenta carousel of tiles in a user interface (UI) on the display. The UI hasa current video presented adjacent the carousel, and the carousel ispresented as if the tiles were arranged on a disk, such that acenter-most tile appears larger than tiles in the carousel other thanthe center-most tile, which become progressively smaller from thecenter-most tile outward. The center-most tile is in focus and hence avideo can be played in the center-most tile.

The details of the present disclosure, both as to its structure andoperation, can be best understood in reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and inwhich:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system including an example inaccordance with present principles;

FIG. 2 is a partially schematic view of a specific example system withtwo UHD displays mounted on a wall side by side;

FIG. 3 is a screen shot of an example display presentation consistentwith present principles;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of example logic consistent with presentprinciples;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of example logic consistent with presentprinciples;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of example logic consistent with presentprinciples;

FIG. 7 is a screen shot of an example display presentation consistentwith present principles;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of example logic consistent with presentprinciples;

FIG. 9 is a screen shot of an example display presentation consistentwith present principles;

FIG. 10 is a screen shot of an example display presentation consistentwith present principles;

FIG. 11 is a screen shot of an example display presentation consistentwith present principles;

FIG. 12 is a screen shot of an example display presentation consistentwith present principles;

FIG. 12A shows an example electronic program guide (EPG);

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of example logic consistent with presentprinciples;

FIG. 14 is a screen shot of an example display presentation consistentwith present principles;

FIG. 15 is a screen shot of an example display presentation consistentwith present principles;

FIG. 16 is a screen shot of an example display presentation consistentwith present principles;

FIG. 17 is a screen shot of an example display presentation consistentwith present principles;

FIG. 18 is a screen shot of an example display presentation consistentwith present principles;

FIG. 19 is a flow chart of example logic consistent with presentprinciples;

FIG. 20 is a block diagram of a system consistent with presentprinciples;

FIG. 21 is a screen shot of an example display presentation consistentwith present principles, schematically showing an input of the AVDD forreceiving advertising separate from the broadcast video input;

FIG. 22 is a flow chart of example logic consistent with presentprinciples;

FIG. 23 is a block diagram of a system consistent with presentprinciples;

FIG. 24 is a flow chart of example logic consistent with presentprinciples;

FIG. 25 is a block diagram of a system consistent with presentprinciples; and

FIG. 26 is a flow chart of example logic consistent with presentprinciples.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This disclosure relates generally to computer ecosystems includingaspects of consumer electronics (CE) device based user information incomputer ecosystems. A system herein may include server and clientcomponents, connected over a network such that data may be exchangedbetween the client and server components. The client components mayinclude one or more computing devices including portable televisions(e.g. smart TVs, Internet-enabled TVs), portable computers such aslaptops and tablet computers, and other mobile devices including smartphones and additional examples discussed below. These client devices mayoperate with a variety of operating environments. For example, some ofthe client computers may employ, as examples, operating systems fromMicrosoft, or a Unix operating system, or operating systems produced byApple Computer or Google. These operating environments may be used toexecute one or more browsing programs, such as a browser made byMicrosoft or Google or Mozilla or other browser program that can accessweb applications hosted by the Internet servers discussed below.

Servers may include one or more processors executing instructions thatconfigure the servers to receive and transmit data over a network suchas the Internet. Or, a client and server can be connected over a localintranet or a virtual private network. A server or controller may beinstantiated by a game console such as a Sony Playstation®, a personalcomputer, etc.

Information may be exchanged over a network between the clients andservers. To this end and for security, servers and/or clients caninclude firewalls, load balancers, temporary storages, and proxies, andother network infrastructure for reliability and security. One or moreservers may form an apparatus that implement methods of providing asecure community such as an online social website to network members.

As used herein, instructions refer to computer-implemented steps forprocessing information in the system. Instructions can be implemented insoftware, firmware or hardware and include any type of programmed stepundertaken by components of the system.

A processor may be any conventional general purpose single- ormulti-chip processor that can execute logic by means of various linessuch as address lines, data lines, and control lines and registers andshift registers.

Software modules described by way of the flow charts and user interfacesherein can include various sub-routines, procedures, etc. Withoutlimiting the disclosure, logic stated to be executed by a particularmodule can be redistributed to other software modules and/or combinedtogether in a single module and/or made available in a shareablelibrary.

Present principles described herein can be implemented as hardware,software, firmware, or combinations thereof hence, illustrativecomponents, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are set forth in termsof their functionality.

Further to what has been alluded to above, logical blocks, modules, andcircuits described below can be implemented or performed with a generalpurpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device suchas an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), discrete gate ortransistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A processorcan be implemented by a controller or state machine or a combination ofcomputing devices.

The functions and methods described below, when implemented in software,can be written in an appropriate language such as but not limited to C#or C++, and can be stored on or transmitted through a computer-readablestorage medium such as a random access memory (RAM), read-only memory(ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM),compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storagesuch as digital versatile disc (DVD), magnetic disk storage or othermagnetic storage devices including removable thumb drives, etc. Aconnection may establish a computer-readable medium. Such connectionscan include, as examples, hard-wired cables including fiber optics andcoaxial wires and digital subscriber line (DSL) and twisted pair wires.

Components included in one embodiment can be used in other embodimentsin any appropriate combination. For example, any of the variouscomponents described herein and/or depicted in the Figures may becombined, interchanged or excluded from other embodiments.

“A system having at least one of A, B, and C” (likewise “a system havingat least one of A, B, or C” and “a system having at least one of A, B,C”) includes systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and Btogether, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and Ctogether, etc.

Now specifically referring to FIG. 1, an example ecosystem 10 is shown,which may include one or more of the example devices mentioned above anddescribed further below in accordance with present principles. The firstof the example devices included in the system 10 is an example primarydisplay device, and in the embodiment shown is an audio video displaydevice (AVDD) 12 such as but not limited to an Internet-enabled TV.Thus, the AVDD 12 alternatively may be an appliance or household item,e.g. computerized Internet enabled refrigerator, washer, or dryer. TheAVDD 12 alternatively may also be a computerized Internet enabled(“smart”) telephone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a wearablecomputerized device such as e.g. computerized Internet-enabled watch, acomputerized Internet-enabled bracelet, other computerizedInternet-enabled devices, a computerized Internet-enabled music player,computerized Internet-enabled head phones, a computerizedInternet-enabled implantable device such as an implantable skin device,etc. Regardless, it is to be understood that the AVDD 12 is configuredto undertake present principles (e.g. communicate with other CE devicesto undertake present principles, execute the logic described herein, andperform any other functions and/or operations described herein).

Accordingly, to undertake such principles the AVDD 12 can be establishedby some or all of the components shown in FIG. 1. For example, the AVDD12 can include one or more displays 14 that may be implemented by a highdefinition or ultra-high definition “4K” or “8K” (or higher resolution)flat screen and that may be touch-enabled for receiving consumer inputsignals via touches on the display. The AVDD 12 may include one or morespeakers 16 for outputting audio in accordance with present principles,and at least one additional input device 18 such as e.g. an audioreceiver/microphone for e.g. catering audible commands to the AVDD 12 tocontrol the AVDD 12. The example AVDD 12 may also include one or morenetwork interfaces 20 for communication over at least one network 22such as the Internet, an WAN, an LAN, etc. under control of one or moreprocessors 24. Thus, the interface 20 may be, without limitation, aWi-Fi transceiver, which is an example of a wireless computer networkinterface. It is to be understood that the processor 24 controls theAVDD 12 to undertake present principles, including the other elements ofthe AVDD 12 described herein such as e.g. controlling the display 14 topresent images thereon and receiving input therefrom. Furthermore, notethe network interface 20 may be, e.g., a wired or wireless modem orrouter, or other appropriate interface such as, e.g., a wirelesstelephony transceiver, or Wi-Fi transceiver as mentioned above, etc.

In addition to the foregoing, the AVDD 12 may also include one or moreinput ports 26 such as, e.g., a USB port to physically connect (e.g.using a wired connection) to another CE device and/or a headphone portto connect headphones to the AVDD 12 for presentation of audio from theAVDD 12 to a consumer through the headphones. The AVDD 12 may furtherinclude one or more computer memories 28 that are not transitorysignals, such as disk-based or solid state storage (including but notlimited to flash memory). Also in some embodiments, the AVDD 12 caninclude a position or location receiver such as but not limited to acellphone receiver, GPS receiver and/or altimeter 30 that is configuredto e.g. receive geographic position information from at least onesatellite or cellphone tower and provide the information to theprocessor 24 and/or determine an altitude at which the AVDD 12 isdisposed in conjunction with the processor 24. However, it is to beunderstood that that another suitable position receiver other than acellphone receiver, GPS receiver and/or altimeter may be used inaccordance with present principles to e.g. determine the location of theAVDD 12 in e.g. all three dimensions.

Continuing the description of the AVDD 12, in some embodiments the AVDD12 may include one or more cameras 32 that may be, e.g., a thermalimaging camera, a digital camera such as a webcam, and/or a cameraintegrated into the AVDD 12 and controllable by the processor 24 togather pictures/images and/or video in accordance with presentprinciples. Also included on the AVDD 12 may be a Bluetooth transceiver34 and other Near Field Communication (NFC) element 36 for communicationwith other devices using Bluetooth and/or NFC technology, respectively.An example NFC element can be a radio frequency identification (RFID)element.

Further still, the AVDD 12 may include one or more auxiliary sensors 37(e.g., a motion sensor such as an accelerometer, gyroscope, cyclometer,or a magnetic sensor, an infrared (IR) sensor, an optical sensor, aspeed and/or cadence sensor, a gesture sensor (e.g. for sensing gesturecommand), etc.) providing input to the processor 24. The AVDD 12 mayinclude still other sensors such as e.g. one or more climate sensors 38(e.g. barometers, humidity sensors, wind sensors, light sensors,temperature sensors, etc.) and/or one or more biometric sensors 40providing input to the processor 24. In addition to the foregoing, it isnoted that the AVDD 12 may also include an infrared (IR) transmitterand/or IR receiver and/or IR transceiver 42 such as an IR dataassociation (IRDA) device. A battery (not shown) may be provided forpowering the AVDD 12.

Still referring to FIG. 1, in addition to the AVDD 12, the system 10 mayinclude one or more other CE device types. In one example, a first CEdevice 44 may be used to control the display via commands sent throughthe below-described server while a second CE device 46 may includesimilar components as the first CE device 44 and hence will not bediscussed in detail. In the example shown, only two CE devices 44, 46are shown, it being understood that fewer or greater devices may beused.

In the example shown, to illustrate present principles all three devices12, 44, 46 are assumed to be members of an entertainment network in,e.g., in a home, or at least to be present in proximity to each other ina location such as a house. However, for illustrating present principlesthe first CE device 44 is assumed to be in the same mom as the AVDD 12,bounded by walls illustrated by dashed lines 48.

The example non-limiting first CE device 44 may be established by anyone of the above-mentioned devices, for example, a portable wirelesslaptop computer or notebook computer, and accordingly may have one ormore of the components described below. The second CE device 46 withoutlimitation may be established by a wireless telephone.

The first CE device 44 may include one or more displays 50 that may betouch-enabled for receiving consumer input signals via touches on thedisplay. The first CE device 44 may include one or more speakers 52 foroutputting audio in accordance with present principles, and at least oneadditional input device 54 such as e.g. an audio receiver/microphone fore.g. entering audible commands to the first CE device 44 to control thedevice 44. The example first CE device 44 may also include one or morenetwork interfaces 56 for communication over the network 22 undercontrol of one or more CE device processors 58. Thus, the interface 56may be, without limitation, a Wi-Fi transceiver, which is an example ofa wireless computer network interface. It is to be understood that theprocessor 58 controls the first CE device 44 to undertake presentprinciples, including the other elements of the first CE device 44described herein such as e.g. controlling the display 50 to presentimages thereon and receiving input therefrom. Furthermore, note thenetwork interface 56 may be, e.g., a wired or wireless modem or router,or other appropriate interface such as, e.g., a wireless telephonytransceiver, or Wi-Fi transceiver as mentioned above, etc.

In addition to the foregoing, the first CE device 44 may also includeone or more input ports 60 such as, e.g., a USB port to physicallyconnect (e.g. using a wired connection) to another CE device and/or aheadphone port to connect headphones to the first CE device 44 forpresentation of audio from the first CE device 44 to a consumer throughthe headphones. The first CE device 44 may further include one or morecomputer memories 62 such as disk-based or solid state storage. Also insome embodiments, the first CE device 44 can include a position orlocation receiver such as but not limited to a cellphone and/or GPSreceiver and/or altimeter 64 that is configured to e.g. receivegeographic position information from at least one satellite and/or celltower, using triangulation, and provide the information to the CE deviceprocessor 58 and/or determine an altitude at which the first CE device44 is disposed in conjunction with the CE device processor 58. However,it is to be understood that that another suitable position receiverother than a cellphone and/or GPS receiver and/or altimeter may be usedin accordance with present principles to e.g. determine the location ofthe first CE device 44 in e.g. all three dimensions.

Continuing the description of the first CE device 44, in someembodiments the first CE device 44 may include one or more cameras 66that may be, e.g., a thermal imaging camera, a digital camera such as awebcam, and/or a camera integrated into the first CE device 44 andcontrollable by the CE device processor 58 to gather pictures/imagesand/or video in accordance with present principles. Also included on thefirst CE device 44 may be a Bluetooth transceiver 68 and other NearField Communication (NFC) element 70 for communication with otherdevices using Bluetooth and/or NFC technology, respectively. An exampleNFC element can be a radio frequency identification (RFID) element.

Further still, the first CE device 44 may include one or more auxiliarysensors 72 (e.g., a motion sensor such as an accelerometer, gyroscope,cyclometer, or a magnetic sensor, an infrared (IR) sensor, an opticalsensor, a speed and/or cadence sensor, a gesture sensor (e.g. forsensing gesture command), etc.) providing input to the CE deviceprocessor 58. The first CE device 44 may include still other sensorssuch as e.g. one or more climate sensors 74 (e.g. barometers, humiditysensors, wind sensors, light sensors, temperature sensors, etc.) and/orone or more biometric sensors 76 providing input to the CE deviceprocessor 58. In addition to the foregoing, it is noted that in someembodiments the first CE device 44 may also include an infrared (IR)transmitter and/or IR receiver and/or IR transceiver 78 such as an IRdata association (IRDA) device. A battery (not shown) may be providedfor powering the first CE device 44.

The second CE device 46 may include some or all of the components shownfor the CE device 44.

Now in reference to the afore-mentioned at least one server 80, itincludes at least one server processor 82, at least one computer memory84 such as disk-based or solid state storage, and at least one networkinterface 86 that, under control of the server processor 82, allows forcommunication with the other devices of FIG. 1 over the network 22, andindeed may facilitate communication between servers and client devicesin accordance with present principles. Note that the network interface86 may be, e.g., a wired or wireless modem or router, Wi-Fi transceiver,or other appropriate interface such as, e.g., a wireless telephonytransceiver.

Accordingly, in some embodiments the server 80 may be an Internetserver, and may include and perform “cloud” functions such that thedevices of the system 10 may access a “cloud” environment via the server80 in example embodiments. Or, the server 80 may be implemented by agame console or other computer in the same room as the other devicesshown in FIG. 1 or nearby.

FIG. 2 shows an example system 100 in which one or more ultra highdefinition (UHD) displays 102, 104 are mounted on a wall, e.g., a wallof a home or a luxury stadium box. The UHD displays 102, 104 may be 4Kdisplays. One or more control devices control presentation of thedisplays by sending commands wirelessly and/or over wired paths to oneor more controllers. In the non-limiting example shown, a controller 106controls the displays 102, 104, it being understood that a separatecontroller may be provided for each display. In the non-limiting exampleshown, content control on the first display 102 is established by afirst control device 108 while content control on the second display 104is established by a second control device 110, it being understood thata single control device may be used to establish control on bothdisplays.

The control devices 108, 110 may be, without limitation, portablecomputers such as tablet computers or laptop computers (also includingnotebook computers) or other devices with one or more of the CE device44 components shown in FIG. 1. The displays 102, 104 may be monitorsonly and/or may include one or more of the primary display 14 componentsshown in FIG. 1. The controller 106 may be a personal computer (PC) orgame console or server that contains one or more of the componentsvariously shown in FIG. 1. In the non-limiting example shown, thecontrol devices 108, 110 communicate directly with the controller 106using, e.g., WiFi or Bluetooth; the control devices 108, 110 do notcommunicate directly with the displays 102, 104. Instead, the controller106 communicates with the displays 102, 104 to establish presentationthereon in accordance with commands received from the control devices.It is to be understood that while the controller 106 is shown physicallyseparate from the displays in FIG. 2, it may be incorporated within thechassis of a display. As also shown, the displays may present pluralcontents in respective content windows 112.

The following description inherits the principles and components of thepreceding discussion.

Now referring to FIG. 3, a display device 300 which, like the displaydevices presenting screen shots described below, may be implemented bythe AVDD 12 of FIG. 1, presents multiple thumbnails, also referred toherein as “tiles” 302, each of which represents an underlying videoasset. Each tile 302 may be a still shot derived from a frame or framesof the underlying video asset. Note that while the shape of the tilesshown is rectangular, other shapes may be used. For example, tiles maybe triangular, circular, oval, or hexagonal, and mixtures of tile shapesmay be used.

As will be explained in greater detail below, the Multiview techniquesherein allow the consumer (also referred to as “customer” or “viewer” or“user”) control the “real estate” on the larger screen high resolutiondisplay. Unlike UIs that have tiles as part of a UI menu systemcontrolled mostly by the TV or operating system, embodiments hereinenable a “video wall” such that the applications or video tiles orwidgets or services are displayed and shuttled around the real estate asthe consumer wishes, or automatically organized based on sortingalgorithms.

The digital signage aspect of Multiview is one where the retailer oradvertiser can deliver “objects” to the screen and each object can beindependently controlled. The object-based video, or independently runapplication, or notification popup bar or scrolling marquee are all waysto deliver an impact to the consumer walking by. Accordingly,flexibility is provided among these screen objects to self-adjust as newinformation is presented. They can also be selected for expansion to theentire screen should a consumer want full display.

Control can come from the consumer, the broadcaster/programmer or theadvertiser. An advertising server may be running in the backgroundfeeding the display and as new ads present themselves, or newmerchandise displayed, the real estate dynamically adjusts.

Templates, described further below, are one way of having a fixedorganization of tiles made up of applications or objects. Each tile canbe an object that can be independently controlled and programmed. Insome embodiments the template view has divisions that can beindependently controlled, and is created as a Template for the purposeof maximal use of the screen real estate. Templated views can be themedsuch as Sports or Cooking or Movie Templates that allow for auto contentdisplay based on a histogram of the consumers viewing selections overtime.

Multiview can be made up of individual IP video feeds or just onemonolithic IP feed with each decimated video aggregated into onetemplate. In example implementations, the template knows how the videosand objects and applications (tiles) making up the entire template havebeen arranged so that the user can signal the broadcaster what video toremove or add in an interactive IP video session. In a televisedbroadcast template, the national feeds can be selected and set based onthe supporting templates, whereas in an IP video streaming session thetiles that make up a single IP feed can be controlled by the consumerand broadcaster to satisfy the targeted viewing preferences of a singlehousehold or viewer.

Display real estate thus may be segmented into tiles or objects each ofwhich is assigned metadata of the full view. Upon selecting options foreach tile, a greater range of metadata and options are available foreach tile. Metadata options can be in the form of selectableapplications, selectable views, or selectable carrousels of content asdiscussed further below. Each tile may be individually managed andcontrolled and easily reset with updated content in a variety of ways.

As focused is placed on a particular tile by highlighting it orsurrounding it with a lighted bar, metadata searches can be deliveredalso into other tiles for the purpose of linking. Linking allows aconsumer to highlight a video and then have the supporting metadatadisplayed in a tile next to the video. Tile linking is a way to searchfor further information about content delivered in one tile, and thendisplay it in another adjacent tile for the purpose of managing the realestate and allowing for continued live updates from the video to bedisplayed in the adjacent tile during the viewing. This type of linkingallows for one type of object to be separated but linked to another typeof object, e.g., a video linked to a metadata concurrent display.Automatic linking can occur when an operator delivers a single templateand each tile has a relationship to each other for the purposes ofcurating the entire video experience.

In the example shown, the tiles 302 in the top row of the screen shot ofFIG. 3 represent broadcast TV channels. The tiles 302 in the middle rowof the screen shot of FIG. 3 respectively from left to right represent aweb video and video stored locally to the device 300 on, e.g., a DVR oroptical disk or stored in the cloud and linked to the device 300. Thetiles 302 in the bottom row of the screen shot of FIG. 3 representrespectively from left to right a photograph album stored locally or oncloud storage, and a software application such as, for example, acomputer game application.

Some of the tiles 302 are established by a consumer designating theunderlying asset as a “favorite”, and hence the screen shot of tiles inFIG. 3 represents a favorites list. As shown in FIG. 4, however, atpower-on 400 of the device 300, both the images presented on the tiles302 and the underlying video content revert at block 402 to the lateststate the underlying respective content was in when last viewed on thedevice 300. The consumer thus does not have to reset the state of thecontent when selecting it via selecting the corresponding tile 302 andlocate the part of the video asset the consumer was in at the time thevideo asset was previously stopped, paused, navigated away from, orotherwise discontinued by, e.g., power-off of the device 300, changingchannels on the device 300, etc.

Thus, as represented in FIGS. 3 and 4, a multiview tile-based state ofTV channels, web videos, applications, graphics, pictures and webpagescan be presented on a single display screen such that the state of thecollection of tiles and views can be stored by the display and returnedto instantly when the consumer turns the display back on.

As indicated in FIG. 5, each state may be remembered automatically andby selection of a state profile name to be stored and referenced. Thedisplay may present tiles representing favorite TV channels, web feeds,channel guide, etc. and aggregate the tiles into a single view. Theconsumer can tab through each tile or application view or web view. Theconsumer can tab through the individual tiles and select a tile at block500 to cause an asset underlying a selected tile to be presented fullscreen or within the tile. The consumer navigates (plays) through theasset at block 502, discontinuing viewing of the asset at block 504. Atblock 506 the device 300 in response to the act of discontinuancerecords the location of the content the consumer was in atdiscontinuance. When the consumer subsequently returns to the assets by,e.g., once again selecting, at block 508, the corresponding tile fromthe presentation in FIG. 3, the recorded state information atdiscontinuance is retrieved and the asset is resumed from the point ofdiscontinuity.

In an example, the state of a video asset is automatically recorded whenviewing of the video is discontinued. The information recorded mayinclude the identification of the device 300 such as a network addressthereof as well as the location in the video stream that was lastpresented on the device 300. Various techniques can be used to know thelast-viewed location, including, for example, knowing the location in avideo bitstream at which viewing of the video was discontinued usingRemote Viewing (RVU) technology. Or, the length of time the video wasviewed and recorded. Yet again, automatic content recognition (ACR) canbe used on a snapshot of the last-viewed frame and used as enteringargument to a database of video to identify the location in the video atwhich viewing was discontinued.

Thus, favorite assets are managed in a way that allows the consumer toscroll through a stream of tiles to see what the favorites are in realtime as the display is viewed. Much like a carousel, the viewer canretain the “state” of the individual content source within each tile sothat upon subsequent re-selection, it returns back to exactly where theconsumer left off. Instead of showing the content from the beginning, orupdated webpage, the strip or carousel takes the last snapshot of theasset state and displays it for reference.

In an example, the display executes a hypertext markup language (HTML)-5application to store the content state of each tiled asset as anextensible markup language (XML) file that has the commands and stateinformation ready to be accessed.

Remembering the exact state of content being viewed and the ability togo right to that point of viewing enables a consumer to move from deviceto device and maintain the exact viewing configuration that was ineffect when one device was abandoned and another one accessed.

Turning now to FIGS. 6 and 7, a technique for Multiview TV CustomDisplay Creation by Aggregation of Provider Content Elements is shown.The technique of FIG. 6 enables the creation of a customized mosaic ofcontent shown in FIG. 7, based upon the consumer's selection or taggingof favorites when inside an application, webpage, broadcast channel, TVprogram guide, or other sources of content. Moreover, the consumer doesnot have to manually tag each element, since the device 700 shown inFIG. 7 and executing some or all of the logic of FIG. 6 can understandpreferences chosen by the consumer and make recommendations for contentfor each individual tile that is chosen for display using, e.g.,algorithms for predicting content the consumer might like such asemployed by ROV and other machine learning algorithms. For instance, ACRcan be used to match images from viewed favorites to images in a videodatabase from other video assets.

At block 600, the device 700 of FIG. 78 receives consumer selections offavorites. This may be done by allowing to access a “favorite” drop-downtag while viewing a video and select it, in which case the device 700captures the identification of the asset being viewed and adds it to adata structure of consumer favorites. Or, the consumer may be presentedwith a list of video assets and prompted to select the assets he or shewishes to designate a favorite. Other techniques for allowing a consumerto identify a favorite may be used.

Moving to block 602, the device 700 automatically determines additionalpotential favorites based on consumer behavior in operating the device700. For example, any of the techniques mentioned previously may beused. Also, as another example, if the consumer watches sports channelsfor an unusually long period of time, the identifications of othersports channels or video sources may be automatically added to thefavorites data structure.

In addition, at block 604 additional identifications of other potentialfavorite video assets may be added to the favorites data structure basedon consumer-input preferences. For example, a user interface (UI) can bepresented on the device 700 prompting the consumer to enter preferredactors, or video genres, etc. and those preferences are then used asentering arguments to a database of video metadata to retrieve theidentifications of video assets most closely satisfying theconsumer-input preferences.

The tiles 702 in FIG. 7 are then populated at block 606 with stillimages from the favorites (e.g., top “N” favorites in the list, whenmore favorites appear in the list than can be accommodated by the tilelayout) or with video from the favorites. In the latter case, the videomay be decimated at the broadcaster or other source to conserveprocessing by the device 700. Note that as used herein, “decimation” isnot to be given its literal meaning of removing every tenth pixel orportion of video, but is to be interpreted to mean “reduce” the video byremoving an appropriate number of pixels or portion of video.

However, if desired the decimation of the video may be executed by thedevice 700 on undecimated full video received from the sources of thefavorites. When decimated by the broadcaster or other source, the device700 can transmit a message to the broadcaster or other source that thefavorites UI of FIG. 7 has been selected by the consumer for view, inresponse to which the broadcaster or other source decimates the videoprior to sending it to the device 700.

At block 608, the consumer may, with the aid of a point and click deviceor other input means (e.g., touch screen input), drag and drop orotherwise move the tiles 702 in the presentation of the UI of FIG. 7, asindicated by the arrow 704.

Accordingly, each tile 702 in the mosaic of tiles of FIG. 7 can beautomatically populated with favorite content based upon the preferencesoutlined by the consumer. And automatic content selection can be alsochosen by a smart algorithm that the device 700 uses based on previousviewing habits (e.g., ACR technology). However, the consumer may alsoselect content and the associated URL or channel delivered to oneparticular segment of the screen. Once a particular source of content ischosen for display, each separate mosaic tile 702 can be independentlycontrolled for sound, and content can be moved around the main screen todifferent tiles or segments. The ability of the device 700 to generate alist of preferred sources of content from what has been watched and usethat content to auto populate customized mosaics created by the consumerhelps the viewer by filtering out what is most watchable. Moreover, insome implementations the device 700, using, e.g., ACR technology data,knows that the consumer likes to watch certain channels at certain timesof day, and then can tabulate this data to recommend time of day contentstreams for each type of template the consumer has created or chosen.

Diverse content sources are thus aggregated into a single view on adisplay device and the UI may be at least partially auto populated withthese selected content sources. Selecting content from various Internetsources, cable sources, HDMI sources can be then aggregated into acustomized display.

Templates such as the example shown in FIG. 700 can be built into thefirmware or operating system of the device 700 for speed. However, HTML5based applications also can be run by the processor of the device 700 toexecute present principles.

As further contemplated herein, the device 700 may be employed accordingto above principles in hospitality establishments or bars or for digitalsignage as a way to deliver product videos that show how the product isbeing used or fashion video demonstrations of clothing, etc. Moreover,medical uses with different camera angles of an operation populating thetiles 702 are envisioned. The videos can be related to each other.

Turning now to FIGS. 8-12, techniques for a Multiview TV Environmentthat is Curated by a Broadcaster or Service Provider are exemplified.Beginning at block 800, plural templates are sent by a video serviceprovider such as a TV broadcaster, e.g., a multiple system operator(MSO), to a user device such as any of the devices herein. The templatesgenerally illustrate respective tile layouts, including numbers andsizes of tiles, and content type for the template, e.g., “movietemplate” or “sports template”.

A consumer selection of a desired layout is received from the userdevice at block 802. The consumer selection is sent in the form ofmetadata to the service provider, including the name or network addressof a desired channel, web feed, etc. A consumer need only click on aselection as described further below, and the AVDD automaticallyextracts the relevant metadata from the selected asset and sends it tothe service provider.

At block 804 the service provider populates the template with contenttypes indicated by the template. Thus, each tile of the template isassociated with an underlying content of the template type. Each tilemay be visually represented by a still or video image selected from theunderlying asset. The consumer may also indicate specific contentsources, e.g., specific sports TV channels or web feeds for a “sports”template, and those selected sources are used to populate the template.

Moving to block 806, the service provider sends the populated templateto the user device as a single file or feed. The consumer may employ apoint and click device such as a TV remote control to select a tile onthe template, which is received at block 808. At block 810, theunderlying asset represented by one or more respective tiles may bechanged such that the tile is associated with a first asset at a firsttime and a second asset at a second time.

Thus, when the tiles are implemented by respective video feeds (whichmay be decimated by the service provider or the receiving AVDD asdescribed previously), the consumer can watch multiple video eventssimultaneously as a single feed provided by the broadcaster or otherservice provider. The consumer selects optional display templatesoffered by the service provider for automatic content arrangement anddisplay in an organized curated manner. The content is delivered by thebroadcaster or other service provider and fills in the template that ischosen by the consumer. For a Multiview TV experience, the feeds can beInternet Protocol (IP) feeds and can be selected by the contentdistributor or the end customer as mentioned above. Each templateidentifies the type of content that is delivered into each portion ortile.

For example, the service provider can create a customized sports view900 as shown in FIG. 9 for the Olympics that allows individual broadcaststreams (Olympic events) to be aggregated by the broadcaster anddisplayed as a single broadcast stream on the AVDD 902. Also, acustomized drama/movie template 1000 (FIG. 10) may be provided.

As shown in FIG. 11 and discussed above in relation to FIG. 8, a prompt1100 may be presented on the AVDD 902 for the consumer to populate thetemplate. The consumer may be provided with plural list panes 1102presenting lists of content from respective source types. Thus, as shownin FIG. 11, one pane 1102 may present a channel list, from which theconsumer can select one or more TV channels to populate a template.Likewise, lists for other source types including locally sourced orcloud-sourced videos, software applications, and photographs, as but afew examples, may be provided.

FIG. 12 shows an alternate tiled layout 1200 in which a currentlytuned-to content is shown in a relatively large content pane 1202, andcontent selected for preview such as by receiving selection of arelatively smaller tile 1204 in a row of tiles may be presented in arelatively larger preview pane 1206. Selection of the preview pane 1206can cause the preview content to move into the content pane 1202.

Each channel that populates a template for viewing in multicast formatcan be associated with an indicator in the program guide sent asmetadata to the AVDD. For instance, as shown in FIG. 12A, an indicatorsuch as an icon or letter “T” may appear on an EPG 1200A next to eachchannel 1200′ that is also available for viewing on the template alongwith the other videos or channels that populate the template, whereas nosuch indicator is listed for channels 1202′ that are not available inmulticast. The consumer can also indicate the channels to be watched tothe service provider and then have a single stream be delivered to theTV by the service provider of different broadcast channels, such asmultiple sports broadcasts. The consumer informs the Broadcaster orService Provider what they want to watch by selecting from a list or byindividually selecting channels, which can then be formatted as XMLfiles and sent back to the content aggregator (typically, the serviceprovider). The single stream is displayed using this custom templatewith audio capable of being selected for each video element. Multipleaudio streams can also be delivered and streamed to wireless headphones.An audio channel can be individually selected for each video stream andlistened to collectively or privately. The content is synchronized orcurated by the broadcaster or other service provider based on consumerdefined preferences or selected and each state can remembered or savedfor future reference or display.

The effective use of larger screen AVDDs with improved displayresolution allows for splitting the canvas into multiple parts that canbe delivered as a single video feed or HTML 5 application. Eachbroadcaster or content source or service provider can leverage thissystem for delivering a package of content not just one video or oneguide or one website.

It may now be appreciated that in the example of FIGS. 8-12, the contentwhich is shown in a Multiview template is defined (selected) by theconsumer by sending metadata to the broadcaster or service providerwhich then packages the content appropriately to the consumer's tastesas reflected in the selections. This creates an interactive component ofcustomized screen views.

Using Web standards and HTML applications, the service provider candeliver these custom templates, as long as the hardware platformsupports the multiple decoding requirements of the video. The purpose ofthis application or template is to signal to the content source orservice provider how the consumer wants the video to be delivered.

Attention is now directed to FIGS. 13-18, which illustrate AVDD ContentSurfing, Preview and Selection by Sequentially Connecting Tiled ContentChannels. As will be shortly described in greater detail, TV video orany TV displayable content may be presented in respective tiles on ahigh resolution display, such as 4K or 8K, arranged in a vertical orhorizontal manner that uses sequentially placed content tiles or contentblocks. A consumer can scroll the tiles using a point and click devicesuch as a TV remote control. Each tiled piece of content can be scrolledsuch that the consumer can quickly identify watchable content and selectcontent by clicking on the respective tile to cause the content to beexpanded full screen on the VADD.

Commencing at block 1300 in FIG. 13, the tiles, which may be stackedvertically or distributed horizontally or otherwise in a sequence oftiles, can be scrolled through by the customer. The tiles may bearranged in storage in a circular queue, also referred to herein as a“carousel”. Each tile can represent an underlying TV channel, softwareapplication, web page, picture, or graphical data feed that can bereviewed and selected independently of the other tiles.

As the consumer scrolls through the tiles, one of the tiles moves intofocus at block 1302, typically into the central portion of the tiledview. As a tile takes focus as shown at 1400 in FIG. 14, at block 1304video from the underlying is played within the tile, and the associatedaudio becomes dominant. No other tiles 1402 need present video, onlystill images derived from their respective underlying assets, toconserve processing resources. The automatic aspect of focus on the tileallows each tile to become live when the focus of the consumer is onthat particular tile. Until the tile is focused on it is static,displaying cover art or images but not playing video or turning live.

As shown in, e.g., FIG. 14, the tiles 1402 are also much smaller inaspect ratio than the entire main display screen 1404, such that severaltiles are viewed simultaneously, but only one becomes dominant at time.Each content tile or block that is showing a static image stilldescribes its content well enough to know what is behind it, but onlywhen the tile comes into focus (as at 1400) is the underlying videoplayed back.

FIG. 14 shows two horizontally-arranged carousels, a first carousel 1406having tiles representing underlying assets from local or cloud-basedstorage, and a second carousel 1408 having tiles representing underlyingTV channels. Each carousel 1406, 1408 can be independently “rotated”from the other by scrolling through the carousel.

FIG. 15 shows a video carousel 1500 and a TV channel carousel 1502,except with the tiles of each carousel stacked vertically, withunderlying tiles shown only at the edges 1504 of the tiles. Thetop-most, fully visible tile is the one in focus. Note that in bothFIGS. 14 and 15, only one carousel at a time need be shown. Thus, asshown at 1506 in FIG. 15, a list of other source-related carousels maybe presents for selection of a carousel by a consumer for presentationof the selected carousel.

In FIG. 16, an example for constructing a carousel is shown. A column1600 of tiles is arranged on the AVDD 1602 shown, with an assignmentlist 1604 being presented next to the tiles. The consumer can drag anddrop a tile on the desired source type in the list 1604 (or drag anddrop a source type in the list onto a tile) or otherwise associate atile with a source type to thereby associate that tile with the carouselassociated with the source type. In the example shown, the tile below“Tile A” has already been associated with a TV channel for associationwith the TV channel carousel. Likewise, the bottom tile has already beenassociated with the web video carousel.

FIG. 17 shows that multiple source type carousels such as any of theabove may be presented simultaneously. As shown, a web video carousel1700 may be presented on an AVDD 1702 along with a TV channel carousel1704, a video disk (e.g., DVD) video carousel 1706, and a recentlyviewed video carousel 1708, in which tiles represent the “N” mostrecently viewed video streams regardless of source.

FIG. 18 shows that a single carousel 1800 (in this case, containingtiles representing TV channels) can be presented on an AVDD 1802 above acurrent video pane 1804, although the carousel may appear below the paneor to the left or right of the pane in other embodiments. The carousel1800 is presented as if the tiles were arranged on a disk, such that thecenter-most tile 1806 appears larger than the other tiles, which becomeprogressively small from the center-most tile 1806 outward, as rotatingdisk may appear in three dimensions when viewed perpendicular to theplane of the disk. The middle tile 1806 is in focus, meaning theunderlying video asset (decimated as appropriate) is played within it,with each of the remaining tiles presenting still images until theconsumer “rotates” them into focus.

The principles of FIG. 18 may also be used to present tiles as beingstacked in the Z-dimension, i.e., into the display. The tiles can bedepicted as being overlaid on top of each other with depth between eachtile's plane. The tiles can be scrolled and this is useful when theviewer wants to see the front tile active with video, yet with enough ofthe other tiles arranged behind it to recognize the portion stillvisible. Behind the main front tile in the scrolling z-plane carouselare the upcoming tiles that get larger as they approach the main fronttile, analogous to what is shown in FIG. 18. Using the Z-plane in thisexample is also a way of managing canvas real estate when more than oneselection exists and insufficient room exists in the X-Y plane todistribute all of the selections. The type of carousels thus can be usedfor fast visual search, tagging or dragging a tile the viewer wants ontothe X-Y plane for viewing, the X-Y plane template view being a longerterm always on experience, unless the viewer wants to view one item infull 4K mode for expanded viewing.

The Z-plane concept can also be used behind a tile that is in the X-Yplane. This concept is similar to the carousel that can be scrolled onthe canvas to identify content. In this particular implementation theZ-plane tile exists behind the tile being highlighted or visible withina template. Though it cannot be seen, in place scrolling can be executedin which the next Z-plane choice comes to the front and replaces thetile currently visible. This “in place” tile scrolling is particularlyefficient if the viewer is familiar with what is in the carouselassociated with a particular tile or content source. It is fast in thatthe template is not swapped out for a carousel to view in the canvas, orwhere the template is minimized during search or set back but remainsfully in place. The viewer in tile scroll mode simply clicks on thattile repeatedly to have the contents replaced with similar themedcontent assigned to that tile. In effect there would be a virtualcarousel assigned to each tile in the Z-plane behind the tile.

It is to be appreciated that the Z-plane tile model is similar tovertical tiling except that the tiles in the Z-plane model virtuallyexist behind the primary visible tile and are replaced over sequentiallythe video currently being populated. The Z-plane tiles can be presentedperpendicular to the X-Y plane perfectly, whereas the tiles in a 2Dvertical alignment can be offset a bit as if depicting a true carouselin three dimensions. When multiple carousels are visible at once, eachcarousel may contain tiles representing a respective category ofcontent. For example, a first carousel may represent ports and a secondcarousel presented along with the first carousel can represent movies.

Each section or tile that represents a discrete piece of content can bemanaged using an HTML5 canvas element that is controllable with specificWebGL based APIs. The AVDD manufacturer can also build a customapplication for menuing that runs faster and utilizes Open GL ES orother graphics acceleration techniques to deliver a fast scrolling feedand to send individual commands to each tile for control. When each tileis highlighted or made active, a series of commands can be executedusing XML or JavaScript to program the tile for the desired function.

The embodiment of FIGS. 13-18 can be used for digital signage andhospitality TV, as well as retail displays and how different itemsavailable in the store can be scrolled through and selected forexpanding live interactivity. Each template may also be keyed to arespective time period of the day, e.g., morning, late afternoon, earlyevening, late evening.

FIGS. 19 and 20 illustrate Multiview TV Template Creation and DisplayLayout Modification. Commencing at block 1900, the executing processor(at the AVDD and/or at the service provider, e.g., cable or MSO headend) receives the type of display for which template creation is sought.This provides the size and other characteristics of the device'sdisplay.

Moving to block 1902, the content type for each to be presented on thedisplay in a tiled view is received. The selection of content type maybe by the consumer associated with the AVDD according to principlesdescribed elsewhere herein.

At block 1904, a minimum size configuration (also referred to as “aspectratios”) of each tile is defined or established based on the displaytype and the type of content selected for that tile. This may be done byusing a lookup table constructed by the manufacturer of the AVDD or theservice provider that ensures that depending on the type of assetunderlying the tile, the tile will be large enough to promote easydiscernment from the average (or in some cases visually impaired)viewer.

For example, the table below illustrates:

Min tile AR MinAR Min AR Display Type (content type A) (type B) (type C)1 4″ × 6″ 5″ × 7″ 8″ × 8″ 2 5″ × 7″ 6″ × 8″ 9″ × 9″

Proceeding to block 1906, the tiles may be populated by associating themwith specific underlying assets of the content type defined for thetile. Moving to block 1908, in some implementations the consumer may begiven the option of resizing one or more tiles by, e.g., dragging anddropping a corner or edge of a tile outward or inward to expand orcontract the tile size, with the other tiles being automaticallyexpanded or contracted accordingly. Or, if a touch screen display isused, pinches in or out on a tile can be used to contract or expand thetile.

Block 1910 indicates that as tiles are automatically re-sized, theminimum ARs for each tile (which recall is based on the type of displayand type of content assigned to the tile) act as limits in resizing.Thus, for instance, no tile may be resized to less than its minimum AR.This limit can also apply to consumer-input tile contractions, in whicha tile cannot be contracted to be smaller than its minimum AR regardlessof consumer input attempting to do so. If a tile cannot be automaticallyresized to both conform to its minimum AR and remain on the displaycanvas, it can be removed, as a default.

Also, the consumer may be allowed at block 1912 to designate which tileis to be used as a “staging area” to receive newly selected content forpresentation in a Multiview. Proceeding to block 1914, consumer-selectedcontent is moved from the staging area to a new tile per the tile'spre-defined content type (if it matches the type of selected content) orper other consumer indication if desired.

Note that content types may include not only TV video and other videobut also calendars, web spaces, etc., and that this comment applies toall embodiments herein unless otherwise indicated. Thus, in the exampleshown in FIG. 20, an AVDD 2000 presents a web page in a web page tile2002, a photograph in a smaller photograph tile 2004, and a video in avideo tile 2006. A TV channel is presented in a TV tile 2008. As shown,each of the tiles 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 has a different AR than theother content tiles. The above-described staging area 2010 is alsoshown. A CE device such as the CE device 44 shown in FIG. 1 andimplemented as, e.g., a smart phone or tablet computer can present video2012 on a touch display which can be swiped by a consumer in thedirection of the arrow 2014 to “throw” the video 2012 into the stagingarea 2010.

Thus, the size or aspect ratio for each tile described above can be setby the consumer and be fixed in place, or it can be dynamically adjustedor resized to fit additional content or information being sent to theAVDD display. The AVDD adjusts to place the sections of content togetherand utilize the available space, based on template parameters set by theAVDD manufacturer, service provider, or consumer. Fixed templates ordesigned templates are comprised of various tiles or sections and can bemapped to different types of content sources, such as videos, webpages,photos, graphical data streams to make up a custom view. These templatesor custom views can be saved or stored and also assigned permanentcontent sources that send the latest feed or information to each tilepersistently. This creates unique views that can be preserved and storedfor future retrieval. Saved themes or templates with their correspondingmetadata can be shared by the consumer, and sent to other networkedAVDDs for viewing by friends or family.

Because the tiles are constrained by the resolution of the AVDD and thesize of the AVDD display, there is a limit as to how much content can bereasonably displayed at once on the AVDD screen. As described above, analgorithm incorporating visual limits for each type of content specifiesminimum aspect ratios for video, audio placards, web pages, pictures,graphical representations to serve as reference points for dynamicdisplay adjustment when new content is added. This prevents sectionsfrom being too small to read or not large enough for acceptable videoquality. Also, fixed templates have already been assigned aspect ratiosand sized for the individual tiles comprising the template. Templatedtiles can also be given priority such that one tile receives new contentfirst as a staging area. This prioritization of tiles enables tablets orphones to fling or send content to the TV screen which can then targetan individual tile by order of priority. A particular tile then becomespreset for that particular type of content.

As understood herein, large HD and UHD displays can function akin to abillboard of daily activity that can track many aspects of home life oractivity. And that means various tiles or sections will need to bedynamically updated and resized as the display's information changesover the course of a day. Also, different times of the day will allowfor different themed templates which can be preconfigured to pullcontent or be sent content.

HTML5 web applications that utilize Web GL, JavaScript, XML, MSE (MediaSource Extensions) and EME (Encrypted Media Extensions) are a flexibleway to implement present principles.

FIGS. 21-24 depict a High Resolution AVDD Ad Bar. The popupadvertisement bar can be controlled by the broadcaster so that the adappearing would be consistent with the ad breaks and national ad spotsnegotiated by the channel or content owner. However, the AVDDmanufacturer alternatively may control the pop-up bar for advertisingfor IP content that is not delivered through a pay TV service or usingPay-per-view. The popup bar for ads thus can be a useful tool forgenerating ad exposure using ACR and IP video coming from a source thatthe consumer seeks out and is not part of the typical ad inventoryallocated to premium pay TV video.

An AVDD 2100 in FIG. 21 can receive, at an input 2102 that is differentfrom the input on which content is received from the MSO/serviceprovider, advertisements in an AVDD-controlled pop up bar 2104 that canbe triggered by the TV channel, broadcaster, or service operator.Instead of inserting advertisements into the broadcast stream as iscurrently done, HTML templates are established for ad popups to offeradvertising agencies and broadcast networks a way to play advertisementsduring programs but not to disrupt the programming. The graphical orvideo advertisements appear in the popup bar 210 at the bottom (asshown) or side of the screen and are triggered by IP signals coming fromthe content source at block 2200 of FIG. 22 for the purpose of sendingIP advertisements. The IP triggers are received at block 2202 and theassociated advertisement is presents in the popup bar 2104 at block2204. The location on the AVDD at which the popup bar 2104 is presentedmay depend on the type of content, template in use, etc. so that thelocation can change dynamically as the consumer views the AVDD.

As shown in FIG. 23, the AVDD 2100 receives content for presentation ina main content window 2106 from a broadcaster 2302 or other serviceprovider. While the triggers that cause or permit advertisements to bepresented in the popup bar 2104 may be received from the broadcaster2302, the content of the advertisements preferably is received from alocal advertisement source 2304 such as a local hospitalityestablishment, local TV station, etc. Alternatively, the advertisementsmay be received from, e.g., a web server operated by the broadcaster.

The advertisements can display graphics, video and data in a conciseformat and can be either superimposed on the video in the program window2106, or the video in the program window 2106 may be slightly decimatedand the popup bar 2104 placed in the resulting empty display space,since the size of the popup bar 2104 is known to both the broadcasterand other affected concerns. The AVDD 2100 can automatically mute theaudio of the program in the window 2106 and then playback theadvertisement automatically. Each advertisement may be of a standardconfiguration so that the broadcasters know how much space to allocatefor each form of content video, graphics, and text. In any case, thepopup bar 2104 is at least partially controlled or activated by thebroadcaster, thus allowing the program provider to decide advertisementbreaks or presentations.

FIG. 24 illustrates a service model that uses the popup bar 2104 conceptdescribed above. While FIG. 24 is presented in flow chart format forease of disclosure, it is to be understood that it equally representsstate logic that can be actuated once the specific level of service isestablished.

If a premium level of service is being provided to the consumer via theAVDD 2100 at diamond 2400, received broadcast content may be presented,undecimated, on the entire canvas of the AVDD 2100. Presentation of thepopup bar 2104 is blocked, such that uninterrupted viewing of anadvertising-free broadcast content is afforded in the premium level ofservice.

On the other hand, if a standard level of service is being provided atdiamond 2404, the above-described advertisements may be presented in thepopup bar 2104 at block 2406 simultaneously with presenting thebroadcast content in the window 2106, again without interrupting thebroadcast program by the nuisance of advertisements embedded in theprogram. However, if the lowest level of service is provided,conventional programs including embedded advertising that interrupts theprogram may be provided to the AVDD at block 2408. The level of serviceused may be established by the consumer by, e.g., making appropriatelow, medium, and high payments to the MSO or other content provider.

FIGS. 25 and 26 illustrate a technique by which multiple streams ofcontent can be delivered to a single AVDD 2500 from various physicalmedia such as a Blu-ray disc player 2502 or a physical hard drive 2504of a digital media player or a universal serial bus (USB) portablememory 2506. Respective content from each physical medium is presentedin a respective tile 2508, 2510, 2512 of a tile presentation on theAVDD, such that the content in the tiles is presented simultaneouslywith broadcast content in a tile 2514.

FIG. 26 illustrates further. At block 2600 one or more visual templatesare provided and may be defined from XML files or Javascript to createsegmented sections of content that can be displayed simultaneously onthe AVDD 2500. The tiles and/or templates may be defined in part basedon the type of content to be presented in the tiles and userpreferences.

Essentially, an application residing on physical media allows formultiple sources of content to be displayed in a synchronized fashionwith the video playing in to a single AVDD. The use of templated viewsallows for each video or content source to be independently controlledand metadata to be assigned to each source. The sources are treated asobjects within the entire video canvas of the AVDD screen and areassigned to a single tile or segment of the screen by use of thetemplated controls. The template controls determine the aspect ratio andsize of the segments which show content based on the type of content,consumer preferences for size, and how the content fits together on thelarger AVDD canvas. Each segment within the larger AVDD canvas can beresized dynamically as new content is added.

The physical media does not have to be running an application thatcreates the template, as this template normally would reside in the AVDDfirmware and pull streams from the physical media. However, the physicalmedia equally could have an HTML5 application designed specifically bythe content creators for displaying their curated content.

At block 2602, the templated content streams coming from the applicationmay be wrapped in an HTML and Javascript web application that accessesall of the various content streams from the various media and organizesthem in the same manner as the AVDD otherwise would. Thus, thefunctionality can reside on the AVDD or any other playback device oreven the physical media 2502, 2504, 2506. The only difference is whetherthe application is embedded in the AVDD, the external player, or withinthe physical media application. Regardless of where the templateapplication resides, it is run at block 2604 to present the templatedview shown in FIG. 25.

The playback of content from digital media located on physical media, ora physical player's hard drive, that is then combined or integrated withother media for a multiview experience that allows additionalexperiences to be built around the primary experience of watching thevideo, such as web based curated content that synchronizes with themedia or social experiences designed for the purpose of sharing mediaexperiences.

If desired, user-selected additional content may be received at block2608 for presentation along with the tiles shown in FIG. 25. In thiscase, the logic may move to block 2610 to resize the tiles, conformingto any minimum ARs consistent with disclosure above.

Multiview as an Application for Physical Digital Media allows multiviewexperiences to become portable to other playback devices and displaysand allows content to be staged for viewing such as at an event, or in astore, or in a lobby of a hotel, or in a stadium for digital signage orhospitality or for a consumer to carry the application with them whenthey travel.

While the particular CONTENT SURFING, PREVIEW AND SELECTION BYSEQUENTIALLY CONNECTING TILED CONTENT CHANNELS is herein shown anddescribed in detail, it is to be understood that the subject matterwhich is encompassed by the present invention is limited only by theclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device comprising: at least one computer memorythat is not a transitory signal and that comprises instructionsexecutable by at least one processor to: present on a display a userinterface (UI) comprising plural tiles each being associated with arespective content; and responsive to a screen focus on a first tile ofthe UI, playing video in the first tile and presenting only still imagesin tiles of the UI other than the first tile.
 2. The device of claim 1,further comprising the at least one processor.
 3. The device of claim 1,further comprising the at least one display device, the at least onedisplay device including a high definition or ultra-high definitionvideo display.
 4. The device of claim 1, wherein the instructions areexecutable to scroll tiles on and off the display in a carousel formatresponsive to a user-input scroll command.
 5. The device of claim 1,wherein second tiles in the UI represent respective TV channels, andthird tiles in the UI represent one or more of: software applications,web pages, graphical data feeds.
 6. The device of claim 4, wherein atile becomes in focus by virtue of the user-input scroll commandrotating the carousel until the first tile is in a central portion of atiled view of the UI.
 7. The device of claim 1, wherein the UI includestwo horizontally-arranged carousels of tiles, a first carousel havingtiles representing underlying assets from local or cloud-based storage,and a second carousel having tiles representing underlying TV channels,the first carousel being rotated independently of the second carousel.8. The device of claim 1, wherein the UI includes a video carousel oftiles each representing a respective video, the tiles of the videocarousel being stacked vertically, with a top tile being completelyshown and tiles underlying the top tile shown only at edges of the tilesunderlying the top tile, the top tile being in focus.
 9. The device ofclaim 1, wherein the UI includes a video carousel of tiles eachrepresenting a respective video, the tiles of the video carousel beingdepicted as being in a sequence along a Z-dimension perpendicular to thedisplay.
 10. A method for establishing a carousel of tiles for a userinterface (UI) presentable on a display, comprising: presenting a columnof tiles on the display; presenting an assignment list next to thetiles; receiving user association signals associating a tile with acontent source type in the list to thereby associate the tile with acarousel of tiles associated with the content source type.
 11. Themethod of claim 10, comprising establishing first and second carouselsof tiles each being associated with a respective content source type.12. The method of claim 10, wherein the content source types in the listinclude a TV channel source, a web page source, a disk-based source, anda data structure recording recently viewed content.
 13. The method ofclaim 11, comprising presenting the first and second carousels on thedisplay simultaneously with each other.
 14. An apparatus comprising: atleast one display; at least one processor; and at least one computermemory with instructions executable by the at least one processor topresent a carousel of tiles in a user interface (UI) on the display, theUI comprising a current video presented adjacent the carousel, thecarousel being presented as if the tiles were arranged on a disk, suchthat a center-most tile appears larger than tiles in the carousel otherthan the center-most tile, which become progressively smaller from thecenter-most tile outward.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein theinstructions are executable to: present video in the center-most tileresponsive to the center-most tile being in focus by virtue of being thecenter-most tile.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein theinstructions are executable to: present no video in tiles other than thecenter-most tile.
 17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein theinstructions are executable to: cause the carousel to appear to rotateresponsive to a scroll command such that the center-most tile moves awayfrom a center-most location and a second tile moves into the center-mostlocation and becomes in focus, in which a still image is replaced withvideo in the second tile.